Personnel Economics in Sports

This book examines personnel economics within the context of the professional sport industry. Sport is an effective industry in which to empirically test theories of personnel economics, primarily because the employer-employee relationship in sport is much more visible and transparent than in almost any other industry. Researchers benefit from having data on a host of variables pertaining to individual employees (players), such as their age, race, national origin, and experience. Researchers also have data on each employee’s performance, on their salary, and on who their co-workers (teammates) and managers (coaches) are.

The chapters are organized around the core functional areas of personnel economics and cover all aspects of the employment relationship in sport – from recruiting and selection, to pay and performance, to work team design. Each chapter contains a thorough literature review that provides the reader with a sense of the breadth and depth of the work being done in the area, and with a sense as to how the literature can move forward, both in a sport and non-sport context.

The book is suitable for an advanced undergraduate course right through to a postgraduate field-course in both management and economics. Academic researchers in the fields of sports economics, personnel economics, human resource management, strategic management and sport management will also find the book of interest.